All posts by Risuko

Interview, Book

Radio interview: David Kudler talks Risuko and the Hero’s Journey

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A radio interview that I gave recently is now up as a podcast!

I talked with Gil Mansergh, host of KRCB’s Word by Word, about Risuko, including what inspired the book and what it was like to write , and how my work with Joseph Campbell Foundation on books like The Hero with a Thousand Faces and Pathways to Bliss influenced my writing. I also read some fun sections of the book aloud — my version of Kee Sun probably reminds you of another literary character (not intentional)!

Catch it here: Continue reading Radio interview: David Kudler talks Risuko and the Hero’s Journey →

News

YASH: Young Adult Scavenger Hunt Is HERE!

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Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This is my first go-around with this bi-annual event, which was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

YASH - Gold Team

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM–but there is also a red team, a gold team, an orange team, a red team, and an indie team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

Risuko on sale through ThursdayI’m David Kudler, author of the YA historical adventure Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale, which follows a young, orphaned samurai girl who is recruited to become a kunoichi — an assassin, spy, and bodyguard.

BUY EBOOK | BUY HARDCOVER | BUY PAPERBACK

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Continue reading YASH: Young Adult Scavenger Hunt Is HERE! →

News

Video: Risuko author David Kudler @ColossusCon!

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Did you miss ColussusCon Merced last week? We missed you too!

LifesAmazingJourney just posted a wonderful vid talking to many of the authors, artists, cosplayers, and fans. The conversation with Risuko author David Kudler starts at 2:37 — but check out the other wonderful, talented folk! Continue reading Video: Risuko author David Kudler @ColossusCon! →

News

Readers’ Favorite Review: ★★★★★ “Cannot get [Risuko] out of my mind!”

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Risuko Five-Star Medal - Readers' Favorite

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Read the opening chapters of Risuko — free!

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Review

Review: Empire of Storms is a hurricane of epic fantasy

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I was going to post my review of Empire of Storms over on my own blog, but it occurred to me that folks here might be more interested in what I had to say. Have you read the Throne of Glass books? What do you think?

By the way, I avoided spoilers for the book as best I could, and have hidden spoilers for the series behind the cut. — David Kudler

As someone with an interest in YA novels about female teen assassins, I’ve enjoyed Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. The latest volume, Empire of Storms, delivers all of the pleasures that have made the previous installments addictive — fast-moving action, well-thought-through epic fantasy, and, at its center, the snarky, sneaky assassin-heroine Celaena Sardothien Continue reading Review: Empire of Storms is a hurricane of epic fantasy →

Review, Book, News

Foreword Reviews: ★★★★★ Risuko “powerful and relentless”

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Look what came in the mail today!

Foreword Reviews: Risuko

Foreword Reviews gave Risuko: A Kunoichi tale a spotlight, five-star review in this quarter’s issue. (Oh, and notice that they used the cover as the central design!)

Risuko is an artfully crafted novel that evokes a heavy sense of place and enchantment. The world in which Risuko lives is filled with lords and ladies, spies, and complicated battles, not all of which are fought out on the field. Lady Chiyome especially is an interesting figure, with a depth that is mirrored in the complicated relationships in the rest of the tale. Risuko becomes an interesting blend of both the historical and the magical, and the stakes of the story are enormous. In turn, Risuko’s development and evolution are fascinating to watch in this powerful and relentless coming-of-age adventure.

Nice. Not only am I happy that they liked the book, but I’m really pleased with what they liked about  the book.

What do you think?

Foreword is a leading trade review journal of independently published books. We like them. Especially right now.

You can read the whole review here! 

I’m going back to working on Bright-Eyes now. 🙂

Book, News

Risuko sale through Thursday! ($0.99 in the Kindle store)

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David Kudler’s teen historical adventure novel Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale is on sale through Thursday, August 18 only. Buy the ebook for just $0.99 on Amazon’s Kindle Store!

Risuko v2b - medium circleSamurai, assassins, warlords…
and a girl who likes to climb

Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan — or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems.

Magical but historical, Risuko follows her along the first dangerous steps to discovering who she truly is.

Historical adventure fiction appropriate for young adult and middle-grade readers

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Season of the Sword #1

Can one girl win a war?

Kano Murasaki, called Risuko (Squirrel) is a young, fatherless girl, more comfortable climbing trees than down on the ground. Yet she finds herself enmeshed in a game where the board is the whole nation of Japan, where the pieces are armies, moved by scheming lords, and a single girl couldn’t possible have the power to change the outcome.

Or could she?

RISUKO ON SALE THROUGH THURSDAY ONLY!

Book, News, Interview

That’s a wrap! Audiobook recording complete

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We’ve completed recording on the audiobook of Risuko! 

Risuko Narrator Julia Kudler on Recording Risuko
Risuko narrator Julia Kudler

Here’s an interview by author David Kudler with audiobook narrator Julia Kudler — who happens to be his daughter. They discuss kickass female characters, character voices, dialects, and the joys of recording a book she first read when she was twelve: Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale.

NOTE: CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!

Samurai, Assassins, Warlords…
And A Girl Who Likes To Climb

Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan — or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems.

Magical but historical, Risuko follows her along the first dangerous steps to discovering who she truly is.

Historical adventure fiction appropriate for young adult and middle-grade readers

Audiobook scheduled for release in September 2016

1938808320.AUDIOBOOK

ORDER NOW

News

Pre-order White Robes now! (Risuko prequel)

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White Robes - A Kunoichi Companion TaleWhite Robes, the first of the Kunoichi Companion Tales series of prequel stories to Risuko, is now available to pre-order on Amazon’s Kindle Store!

“White Robes” introduces Lady Mochizuke Chiyome, a recent war widow who is mired in grief. She has become tired of mourning, tired of wearing the white robes that are the traditional Japanese garb of the grieving. On the road, she encounters two young women who open her eyes to a whole new purpose in life — and a new way to end Japan’s century-old civil war.

There are six planned stories: Continue reading Pre-order White Robes now! (Risuko prequel) →

Article, News

Ghostbusters, Risuko, and when gender matters

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GhostbustersI went to see Ghostbusters last night with my wife and my daughter Julia. As we were driving home, we were talking about how funny the movie was, and Julia brought up how much grumbling there had been among her friends — particularly among her male friends — about the fact that the leads were cast as women.

That got me thinking about gender roles, and (not surprisingly) about Risuko.

Here’s how my thinking went: gender difference exists. Vive la difference, and all of that. (I’m not even going to get into issues of gender fluidity or sexuality here — it’s a complicated enough issue looked at through a binary lens. Sorry.) It exists, but in art and entertainment, does it matter? Continue reading Ghostbusters, Risuko, and when gender matters →